The previous post outlined in an XAML UI using a ListView how to display a List of instances of a class of public properties using data binding. Layout and padding issues were examined as well as binding to a dictionary of objects. This article covers programmatically adding elements of a collection to an XAML UI.

I had a Dictionary of values that I wanted to display in an XAML UI as part of a UWP app. My initial foray was to use a ListView with a binding to the dictionary ListView.ItemTemplate/DataTemplate. The dictionary was then bound to the ListView’s ItemsSource. The problem with the ListView is that there is a lot of padding between items vertically and within items.I wanted to compact the rows of data vertically though as if I had manually placed each dictionary item (key and values) in a grid of rows of TextBlocks in a row (one row for each item). This article discusses my trials and tribulations with this issue and includes my final solution.

The last leg, of 8, of the world Build tour was held in Sydney this week. What can I say .. it was great. A lot of new and coming Creators features were covered, Insight into the latest Windows technologies was dished out. Here are some of the highlights and summary links.

Several months ago I published a UWP app on GitHub that interacted with a Texas Instruments CC2650STK SensorTag using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) API. It was based upon a previous Microsoft sample UWP app for interacting with an earlier TI SensorTag. Whilst the new app ran well on the Windows 10 Desktop and Windows 10 Phone, it was found to be erratic on the Raspberry Pi3 running Windows 10 IoT-Core.. working well some times but errant other times. Windows 10 Creators Edition added a key feature to BLE, namely the ability to connect to a device that is advertising without being paired. This blog examines the erratic nature of the RPi3 with BLE and investigates whether this is solved with the Creators Edition. In so do a comparison is made between between BLE Paired and Unpaired connectivity in the UWP app development context..

Last night I attended a Meetup on Cyber Security with a IoT context sponsored by Kerpashky Lab. It was a great night with hosted by a female with three well credentialed females as the guest panelists. There was a interesting presentation on Cyber Security followed by a Q&A with the panel. This rhetorical question occurred to me.

Well it looks like Google is getting into the IoT business also. Microsoft has its IoT core platform that is basically a slimmed down version of its desktop Windows 10 offering targeted to the embedded Internet of Things market. Visual Studio 2015/2017 supports development for Windows desktop as well as IoT core using its universal platform strategy. Also included in VS is support for mobile phone development using Xamarin, which Microsoft acquired awhile back. Visual Studio through Xamarin has the ability write and debug IoS and Android mobile running on tablets and phones. Now that Google is in the IoT game also it will be interesting to see how their strategy pans out. Google, as expected, is leveraging all the Androids frameworks and middleware that makes sense for the IoT market. It is also extending libraries adding I2C, GPIO and UART interfaces to support user supplied hardware. As a simple test I built and tried to deploy a simple "hello world" Android mobile app, built with Visual ...

At THEORIS our server room temperature is controlled by an A/C unit, but we are facing two issues: 1- In summer the room temperature may go above 30°C, requiring extra cooling capacity.2- In case of a power cut the A/C does not restart automatically, a user action is required.

We solved these two issues with a connected IoT solution based on an ICOP Educake and Azure Mobile Service.